Happy New Year Everyone!

Here's to hoping that 2013 brings good things; like puppies, cupcakes, and ~~thunderstorms (yes, I am one of those weird people who loves thunderstorms)~~ warm/dry weather in Seattle. Did you make any new years resolutions? What were they? This year, I chose resolutions I think are really do-able:

Drink ~~more~~ water. I'm one of those people who rarely ever drink plain water. I was always a soda drinker. Whenever I'd go like a day without soda, my body would freak out… not a good sign. So I've convinced myself I'll be healthier if I drink lots of water and elliminate the unneeded calories, sugars, and caffeine. I'm kind of hoping I'll be more energized too… we'll see. I'm setting the goal for myself to drink about 40 fl oz of water each day. My new Brita water bottle is my best friend!
Go to the gym. I know, I know, this is EVERYONE'S resolution. But I really feel like when I'm traveling I should be using the gyms in the hotels. It's almost like having a free membership and I LOVE free stuff. I love couponing to get stuff at reduced rates, I love searching for awesome deals, and I ESPECIALLY love getting stuff completely for free…. like the 7up ten, A&W ten, and other soda's Safeway is offering for free this week (I'm going to use the root beer one to make pulled pork tomorrow). Regardless, business school taught me about opportunity cost so let's face it: I'm practically LOSING money by not using these gyms.
See Seattle. My final resolution is to do at least one activity in Seattle each week. I feel like I have this vast amount of knowledge about Seattle in the form of tourism books, friends (Deb), and websites like LivingSocial, Groupon, and Cheap Bastard Seattle, and I'm not utilizing to it's full potential. So I want to do at least one thing a week from one of those sources, for example: last week Deb told me and Frankie about these gingerbread houses in the Sheraton hotel, a few blocks away from me. We went to see them and they were really cool. I need to get out more and do more. Especially on the days where there is no rain (for some reason, Seattle has really good weather when Frankie visits… we think that means he should stay).

Well, there you have it. Those are my main ones. I have a few other ones that I'm not holding my breath about, like bake more, ~~post more~~, walk more, eat healthier. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. This is a FOOD blog people, the chances of me actually sticking to an “eating healthy” routine are about as probable as me never eating this delicious Cranberry Caramel Sauce again. So that's obviously a 0% chance. I like clogging my arteries and stuffing my veins with sugar… who doesn't?

I originally made this sauce for Thanksgiving, because who doesn't love a non-traditional twist on the cranberry element of the holiday. But it's just so ooey, gooey, and wonderful, that I think I could keep a jar in my fridge all year long and eat it ~~by the spoonful~~ on ice cream or something. I know you all are like me and ~~irrationally hoard~~ keep a healthy stock of cranberry sauce and cans of pumpkin in your pantry ~~that you will probably never need~~, JUST IN CASE you might need it for some abstract recipe.

All I'm saying is you never know, you NEVER know. So, break out a can of cranberry sauce that you ~~hoarded~~ stashed away and prepare for a crazy ride. My first attempt at making this completely failed, as in I ended up with a seized up mess and a burnt finger. I ~~cried like a baby~~ put my big girl pants on and marched down to target where I bought burn ointment… learn from my mistake: follow the directions.

Caramel Cranberry Sauce

Yields: 16 oz Prep Time: 4 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups of Sugar
Pinch of Salt
14 oz Jellied Cranberry Sauce
1/2 Cup Water
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 Tbsp Butter

Procedures

Gather ingredients and open the can of jellied cranberry sauce.

Combine sugar and salt in a skillet and melt over medium heat without stirring for four minutes. Then swirl the mixture until it is dark amber, approximately four more minutes.

Add cranberry sauce and water to mixture and whisk until syrupy, four minutes. Add vanilla extract and butter and whisk for another four minutes.

Puree the mixture in a blender.

Serve sauce immediately or store in refrigerator for future use. If sauce is stored in the refrigerator, heat in microwave until warm before serving.